The New Player
by N0W 0R N3V3R
Summary: Shepard has done the impossible on a daily basis, from taking out mercs to saving the Galaxy. But what happens when his new mission sheds a light on old beliefs and introduces the truly impossible?
1. Breaks?

**Hello! As I'm sure you can see, (unless you've never read this before) this is the revised version of Chapter 1. After some constructive criticism, I decided to redo Chapters 1 & 2. I, along with some of my readers, feel I took the easy (and sloppy) way out in a few areas. I hope y'all enjoy this Chapter more than the original. As always, shoot me a review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

><p>Shepard was tired. Not only had he managed to reach the Collector base and destroy it and its inhabitants, he'd done it without losing a single member of his team or crew. However, his victory over the Human Reaper had been short lived after a second Reaper, called Harbinger, made itself known and told him how futile his efforts were, shortly before the base exploded.<p>

After limping out of the Omega-4 Relay, the Normandy had managed to dock on Omega and received full repairs to all major systems, although the ship would never be quite the same due to a lack of necessary high quality parts. Shepard had been assured by all engineers on board that it wouldn't be any trouble but he had his doubts. He'd seen too many things blow up in his face not to expect the worse.

Shortly before leaving Omega, Shepard contacted his former commander Captain (now Councilor) Anderson to inform him they had survived and succeeded. Rather than the congratulations he had been expecting, he was given another assignment.

"Shepard, I realize you need a break, your whole crew does. Unfortunately the Council needs someone to investigate some disappearances on an isolated planet. Apparently a group of the Salarian Special Task Force was conducting an investigation of some odd signals coming from the planet's surface at the request of the Council."

"Let me guess," Shepard stated skeptically. "They haven't reported in for a couple days so the Council, in their infinite wisdom, chose me to find them."

"Not quite actually. They contacted us two days ago and requested immediate assistance from the Turians and Asari."

"Just the Asari and Turians? Why wasn't humanity included?"

"I don't know, they wouldn't say. But the scientists requested that they come immediately with a force of five Turians ships and two Asari ships, along with a full battalion of Asari Commandos."

"That many troops? It must be serious stuff. Are you sending us in so you know what's going on?"

"No. We're sending you in because we lost contact with the assistance force yesterday. Comm chatter before that suggests that they were being engaged by unknown hostiles planet-side and had lost one Turian ship, although we can't be sure. Shepard, you and I both know that it would take something serious to defeat those troops and ships. I need you and your team to check it out."

"Yes sir." Shepard replied, all thoughts of relaxing gone.

"And Shepard..."

"Sir?"

"Be careful."

The transmission ended, leaving Shepard alone with his thoughts.

"Joker, plot a course for the coordinates Councilor Anderson sent us. It looks like we have to find the Council's lost puppy."

"Aye, aye Commander."

Shepard then left the Briefing Room, nodding at Jacob as he passed, and headed to the elevator. Once he reached his room he locked his door and addressed the pedestal next to his fish tank.

"EDI, inform the crew that I'm not to be disturbed until we reach the planet. I need some rest."

"Of course Commander Shepard, anything else?"

"No thanks EDI."

"Very well Commander, logging you out."

Shepard staggered over to his bed, not even bothering to change clothes. He didn't take notice of it immediately and would later question why he hadn't, but he would soon come to wonder why EDI's avatar had changed from that of a globe to the form of an Alliance Naval Tech Officer.

* * *

><p>Six hours later, Shepard awoke to the sound of EDI's voice.<p>

"Sir, we have reached the planet Councilor Anderson mentioned. Joker requests your presence in the cockpit. He feels you need to see something." EDI said. She sounded troubled.

"Thanks EDI. Inform everyone to get suited up; I need everybody ready to go planet-side in three minutes... Is something wrong EDI?"

"No sir, of course not. May I be dismissed?"

"Of course EDI." Shepard said. What was up with her all of a sudden? When did she start to need his permission for anything? "Dismissed."

"Thank you, sir." EDI replied before her new avatar disappeared again.

"What the hell?" Shepard quietly wondered to himself. He then changed into his Combat Armor and headed to the elevator, pressing the button for the CIC as he entered. After exiting the elevator Shepard was joined by his entire team, minus the bounty hunter who had departed on Omega, just outside the cockpit. As Shepard approached everyone stepped aside to allow him to look at the sight before them.

"Dear God… Is that the fleet?" He asked in obvious disbelief. Before them were the remains of what were once no doubt seven highly capable ships of the Citadel Fleet. All that was left now was misshapen metal and the charred remains of what were once no doubt the proud crew of the ruined hulks before them.

Garrus almost choked as an obviously Turian corpse floated past the observation window. "Spirits..."

Shepard was silent for a long time, unsure of what to say. "Joker… are there any distress beacons? Anything that would indicate survivors?"

Joker checked one of the dozens of holographic screens that passed before his eyes before slowly shaking his head. "Negative Commander. Nothing at all."

"Damn... Is there anything coming from the planet itself? Life-boat signals?"

Joker scanned the screen again. "Yeah, here's something. Pulling it up now." He tapped a small section of the screen and a voice began to play in the small cockpit.

"_This is-kshh-with the-kshh-Commandoes. Upon entering the-kshhhk-warning shot-kshhhhh-engaged them-kshhh. Hostiles—kshh-confirmed as-kshh-."_

Shepard shook his head in annoyance. "EDI, can you clean that up?"

"Aye, aye Commander. Boosting frequency."

Once again the small room was filled by the voice.

"_This is Lieutenant Daliri with the Asari Commandoes. Upon entering the system we received a transmission from what appeared to be a small space station, demanding we identify ourselves. Scans revealed it to be an immense ship. Following protocol, we sent a return transmission, ordering them to identify themselves by order of the Citadel. We received no reply. Admiral Bellarus ordered the Reverence to fire a warning shot to deplete their shields, but the shot tore through the lower half of the ship unimpeded – no ship-board shields. The ship fired a return shot that tore through the Reverence – shields and all – no survivors. The rest of the fleet engaged them while we were sent to the surface. We were ambushed by hostile ground forces. __**Warning: Hostiles have been confirmed as humans… **__This is Lieutenant…" _The message was cut as it began to repeat.

The cockpit was silent as the squad members processed the message. Joker was the first to speak.

"Scanners managed to cut through the interference planet-side; EDI pinpointed the beacon's position. It looks like it's located near the entrance to a large valley. Could just be interference from the debris field, but it looks like there's a lot of activity in that area.

Shepard pulled up a display of the area on his omni-tool and inspected the site of the beacon.

"Looks pretty compact, so close- to mid-range." He turned to look at his old friend. "Garrus, you, Grunt and Jack are with me. Legion, I want you to help EDI get a clear comm line to the surface. Everyone else, feel free to go about your business."

There was an awkward shuffle of feet, as the others were not very keen on being left behind. Shepard smiled reassuringly, pointing out that too many boots on the ground left a lot more tracks to follow. After a moment's hesitation, they quietly left the cockpit, leaving Shepard and his chosen team to lay out the mission parameters.

"The three of you head to the armory and get outfitted for CQC, but make sure you have something to keep 'em at a distance. After you're done, meet me in Briefing Room so we can get a strategy laid out." The three of them nodded and parted from Shepard to prepare. He let out a long sigh and quietly said to Joker:

"What are we supposed to tell the Council about this, Jeff? If they hear that their fleet was wiped out by an illegal _human_ ship, we could have a war on our hands, and we need to be focused on the Reapers; not a bunch of xenophobes."

The pilot was quiet for a moment before replying. "Well Commander, if they _do_ declare war on us, we could always just ask the big-bad xenophobes to help us. They seem to know what they're doing." He finished in his usual snarky tone.

Shepard quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why do I keep you around again?"

Joker smirked, very obviously. "Because without me, you would have plastered the Normandy to a Mass Relay months ago.

Shepard did his best to hide a smile as he shook his head seriously. "That'll be all, Flight Lieutenant."

"Aye, aye Commander."

* * *

><p>The planet they landed on was covered with mountains, with large valleys in between. Orbital deep-scans showed that the mountains themselves were full of caves and tunnels while the valleys were full of native flora. For some strange reason no life could be detected. Engineering reports chalked it up to an equipment failure that would take a few days to fix. In other words they had no idea what to expect. Not to mention the fact that the comms appeared to be going haywire.<p>

"Well this is just perfect!" Garrus began when they exited the drop-ship. "Nothing like a good ambush to get the blood flowing."

Shepard laughed before replying, "Its things like that that practically scream 'shoot me first!'"

Garrus was quiet for a moment before replying sarcastically, "Well, at least the rest you could make it to cover."

The jibes would have continued if not for an unknown voice catching their attention.

"But Captain, we need reinforcements."

"How are we supposed to get them Sergeant? All of our communication equipment went down with the ships carrying them, and we have no other way of contacting any surviving Turians – if they haven't all been captured or killed. We just have to hope the Council sends someone to find us."

Shepard glanced at his team, the unasked question hanging in the air. Garrus shrugged, Jack looked pissed and Grunt didn't seem to care.

"Hello? I'm Commander Shepard, Council Spectre. Is anyone there?"

Within moments, a platoons worth of heavily-armored Asari surrounded the four-man group, guns trained specifically on Shepard and Jack.

One of the Asari, a Captain judging by the insignia on her armor, was the first to speak. "A Spectre, huh? It seems odd that the only _human _Spectre comes to help us, all things considered." She said, making it very obvious that it didn't seem odd at all.

Shepard frowned for a moment, recognizing a deteriorating situation when he saw one. "What exactly is the situation Captain? The Council sent me to investigate the comm silence after the fleet's last report. We received a looped transmission when we entered the system, saying that there was a very large ship – a ship without shield technology – which the fleet fired upon. The ship then engaged the fleet, obliterating a single ship with a single shot. Ground forces were deployed and ambushed, apparently by humans. Is that about right, _Captain_?" He finished, lacing the final word with as much venom as he could muster. 'Try to help a person…' He thought.

She seemed to grasp for a response before heaving a massive sigh. "Lower your weapons. If they wanted to kill us, they wouldn't have told us they were here." She glanced at Shepard as the weapons were lowered, obviously humbled by the situation. "I apologize, Commander. It's been a long day already and we can't take any chances."

Shepard nodded, waving away the apology. "I understand, but you have to trust me. What happened once you got down here?"

"At first, nothing. We were in the last wave of shuttles. The Turians from the _Stalwart _reported that scattered AA towers had taken down a few shuttles and forced them to land. The other squadrons were saying the same. We set down in a clearing two-klicks southwest of here. Scanners indicated a lot of activity in the valley near here; the plan was to converge on the area from all sides. It looked pretty good on paper, I guess…"

"What happened next?" Garrus asked, finally feeling the need to join the discussion.

"Some strange type of re-entry vehicles started raining down everywhere. There weren't very many, but we had squads stay behind to hold off whatever was inside. Reports indicated that the same was occurring everywhere. We continued moving to the valley and lost contact with the squad we left as a screen after an about half an hour. Then we got comm chatter from everywhere saying the same thing: ambush. We managed to duck into the caves before we were spotted. Before the signals were lost, we heard that they were taking very few prisoners. Most of the Turians were killed outright; the rest of the Asari didn't fare much better. We haven't heard anything since." She seemed to shudder at the memory.

All of this information made Shepard suddenly realize just how outmatched he was. Even when fighting the Collectors and Reapers he had had some wild card. Here he had nothing but his team, a dozen Asari Commandos and the Normandy, versus an unknown enemy with unknown capabilities and a ship that had singlehandedly wiped out an entire fleet nearly effortlessly, despite a lack of shielding. For the first time in a long time, Shepard didn't know what to do. Little did he know that his mind would soon be made up for him.

* * *

><p>Three tall, heavily armored figures sat hidden in the crags above the clearing, hearing everything that had been said. Over their secure comm network, the three were discussing their next move.<p>

"Jerome, I think it's about time we let those blue ones join their comrades. We can't afford to hold many more prisoners, especially those ones." One of them, a male, said.

"What about those four that just showed up? Think we should capture them? We could use the information and that blue leader seems to be answering to that human in the black and red. He could be their superior." The second, a female, replied.

"But what about the non-humans with them? We have no idea what they can do. I say we neutralize anything that may not be human and take the humans in. Jerome?"

"Hmm. Drop all of the blues. Capture the new players. We can subdue them easily enough. If you get too much trouble from any of them, kill them.

"Alice, you're on sniper duty. Douglas and I will get up close. We'll be cloaked and won't hit them till you do. Take out the blue leader first." The third, obviously the leader, stated firmly.

"Roger that." The other two replied immediately.

Two of them disappeared suddenly, quickly working their way down until they were standing behind the Asari, blocking their escape route back into the cave.

* * *

><p>Shepard, not knowing what was about to happen, had devised a plan.<p>

"Alright, listen up; I need you to take all of your troops up that path. Our shuttle is waiting there. Simply start it up and it will automatically take you back to the Normandy. We'll stay here and do some recon. When we've gathered enough information, we'll join you on the Normandy and we can return to the Citadel. Alright?" He asked the Asari Captain. She was already nodding.

"It sounds like a plan, good luck Shepard. I hope to see you so-"

The rest of what she was going to say was cut off as a HVAP round shattered her shields, entering and exiting her skull as well as the torso of the Commando behind her.

"Sniper! Take cover in the cave! Where did that come from Garrus?" Shepard yelled as two more Asari dropped dead suddenly. He never heard the answer; two soldiers in intricate armor materialized in the cave entrance. They quickly detached large, archaic rifles from their backs and began unleashing three-round bursts into the Asari. The clearing echoed with the sound of gunfire and reeked with the smell of the dead.

"Grunt! Two in front, they're all yours! Garrus, I need eyes on that sniper now! Jack, help Grunt! Everyone else get inside and provide covering fire!"

"Wahhh?!" Shepard turned and watched in dumbstruck awe as one of the two soldiers effortlessly picked up Grunt and threw him into his oncoming help. He then watched in horror as the second drew what looked like SMGs from his waist and killed the last two fleeing Asari. The two soldiers were then joined by a third who had jumped down from an overhang above them. The sniper had made itself known.

The one in the middle slowly looked around at the carnage before him, and then looked directly at Shepard.

The voice that addressed him was deep and unmistakably human. "I will say this once and only once: Tell your squad to throw down their weapons and surrender. If you agree, we will not harm you. You are to come with us for questioning. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Am I understo-?"

"I don't know who the hell you think you are," Jack roared as she rose from the ground, a biotic field surrounding her lithe form. "But nobody orders me to do anything!" She finished, charging at the trio. Shepard actually felt sorry for their attackers. They had no idea what they were dealing with although... why hadn't they opened fire yet?

Everyone in the clearing was silent as Jack charged the leader of the three, who was discernible by a red stripe going across his emerald armor. Shepard was even more surprised when the other two soldiers calmly took a few steps away from their leader who had sheathed his weapon. It was then that Shepard knew something was wrong.

"Jack! Stop!" He yelled, trying to catch her attention, but he was too late. For the second time that day he was frozen in place from a mixture of awe and horror as he watched the massive soldier allow Jack's glowing fist to make contact with his chest.

There was a flash of blinding light and a loud boom as the biotics erupted. As the flash cleared, Shepard found that the soldier still remained where he had been, now surrounded by an orange glow. Jack, however, was now dangling a few feet from the ground, an armored hand around her throat. A quick, expert blow to the head rendered her unconscious. He then unceremoniously tossed her into Grunt's arms.

"As I was saying," The leader continued calmly. "Throw down your weapons and surrender. Am I understood?"

He was answered in the affirmative as the three remaining troops grudgingly threw all of their weapons to the ground.

"Good, now follow me." He then addressed his two squad-mates and told them to take up the rear of the procession. "Time to head back to base." He said in a neutral tone for all to hear.


	2. Repeat Your Last

Shepard was in shock. He had just watched as some of the deadliest fighters in Citadel Space were cut down by three unknowns as if it was an everyday occurrence. Add to that, the fact that the undisputed deadliest biotic in known space, and his personal friend, was singlehandedly incapacitated by a lone soldier, like she was some untrained rookie going into their first hand-to-hand bout with the instructor. Things just didn't add up. A ship with building parameters were completely illegal, shipboard weaponry on a scale he had never heard of, and humans that were so highly trained that it left him, one of the Alliance's finest, speechless; a deadly mixture that clearly spelled out a war for humanity when the Council found out.

They would never listen to him after all. The people who had utterly wiped out their small fleet were xenophobic humans with illegal technology. What was there to hear? And yet they obviously weren't regular humans. Their weapons, while deadly effective, were obviously on a different technological level then theirs, and appeared to operate like firearms before the discovery of Mass Accelerator technology, but far more advanced. Their armor seemed far more sophisticated than anything he had ever even heard speculations about and they obviously used shields although those seemed different as well. They were a different color and seemed to be stronger, if only slightly. Then of course there were the soldiers' abilities to basically counter anything that could be thrown at them. At this thought Shepard began to despair. How were they supposed to defeat the three of them, let alone an army?

_I can't believe this! This is impossible, and that's coming from the guy who got resurrected. How can this be happening?_

The more Shepard thought about it the more convinced he became. These may well be humans, but they were not like him or any other humans he knew. They were something else entirely.

His thoughts were interrupted when the lead soldier informed them that they had arrived at 'home sweet home.'

Before them lay multiple bases that were unmistakably military in nature. Each had four massive turrets, one at each corner, and appeared to have a standing force of five squads of oddly dressed troopers and a mixture of unfamiliar vehicles and hulking mechs. If he hadn't been sure before, he was now. It appeared that this planet was completely inhabited by an extremely large- and obviously capable- _human_ military force. Once again the technology proved they were different; despite multiple advances, Earth was in ruin due to pollution. From what he was seeing, everything here combined probably produced as much pollutants as a small car.

_The Council is gonna love this. Deadlier, and cleaner. _Shepard thought to himself sourly before finally managing to speak. "Where are we?"

The lead soldier looked at him for a long moment before replying, saying something along the lines of "Insurrectionists don't get to ask questions. Keep moving."

They were then lead to the nearest base, and ushered in through the main entrance. Once inside, their guards were joined by a group of the ten black-armored troopers who lead them down a long corridor and into a medium-sized room with a large metal briefing table. The table had fourteen chairs, one at each end of the table, six on each side. The chair at the head of the table was occupied by a man in a grey military uniform, who appeared to be in his late fifties.

"Captain Cutter, we have the prisoners, as requested." The leader of the black-armored troopers stated crisply.

The man looked over everyone for a moment before replying. "Thank you Spartans, good work. Please return to your regular posts; I would like to speak with our guests. I'm sure the ODSTs can handle things from here." As the 'Spartans' left the room he turned toward Shepard and his team, studying each of them for a moment. "Please take a seat. Serina, inform our guests of the situation."

Suddenly the avatar of a blue woman appeared in the center of the table. At its appearance, the group, including the now conscious (though very groggy with a pounding headache) Jack, started slightly.

_And they have an AI too? Amazing. Who are these people?_

"As you wish, sir." She then turned and glared down at them for a moment before beginning. "At the moment you are on a planet claimed by the UNSC and are trespassing. However, due to the fact that you are the first humans other than the crew of the Spirit of Fire to set foot on this planet we have decided to spare you. Your ship is currently docked in one of our many air bases and your crew is being treated well. You are not permitted to leave the planet until further notice however. If you attempt to escape you will be gunned down, along with your ship if you happen to make it aboard somehow. Now, would you mind telling us who you are, where we are, and how we might possibly return to Earth if it has not yet been overrun by the Covenant?"

Shepard was silent for about three minutes while those around him exchanged confused glances. "Come again? What, exactly, are you talking about? Earth isn't in any danger of being overrun. And what is the Covenant?" He asked, genuinely baffled.

"Your feigned ignorance is rather... unamusing. Do you really expect us to believe that you don't know who the Covenant are? Next I suppose you'll be saying Harvest wasn't glassed either." It was obvious from her tone of voice and facial expression that she thought Shepard was a complete idiot.

Shepard looked to his team for support and, when he found none, continued to speak. "I honestly have no clue what you're talking about. I haven't ever heard of the Covenant and I have no clue what Harvest is. Is that the name of a planet?"

Before Serina could continue to berate him Captain Cutter began speaking to him. "The Covenant are a conglomerate of alien races that are united under a single religion. They are led by the Prophets, who are their religious and political leaders. The main military force of the Covenant is a race of highly skilled warriors that we refer to as 'Elites'. The second-most important group is the 'Brutes". They resemble large gorillas and tend to be more ruthless than the Elites. We have little information on the rest of them except that some are hired mercenaries and some are more like slaves. Harvest was the first of many human planets they attacked. After wiping out all resistance planet-side they proceeded to glass the planet, a process that basically involves using an extremely powerful plasma beam that is shot from the bottom of their larger ships. The beam is so hot that the planet's surface is literally turned to glass. We don't know why they attacked us but we do know that we are losing. Or were; we're not entirely sure now."

Shepard digested all of this new information and felt that he needed to share information of his own. "If I may sir, judging by everything that I have seen today, I think it's safe to say that you and your troops aren't from around here."

Serina was – unsurprisingly – the first to voice her opinion of his thoughts. She used the words 'witless' and 'Insurrectionist' multiple times.

After a moment Shepard glared her into silence. "Just hear me out. You told us your story, now I'll tell you ours. It all began in 2148, when humanity discovered a cache of ancient technology on Mars. Study of the artifacts gave us the ability of Faster-Than-Light travel and revealed that Charon was a Mass Relay, a transportation hub if you will. Once it was activated, Jon Grissom led an expedition through the relay, which was instantly transported to Arcturus, which is over 36 light years away. In 2157, humanity was attacked by the Turians, a race which my good friend here," he said, gesturing towards a furious Garrus, "is a member of, while activating another Mass Relay. Apparently that was against the law in Citadel Space. They followed the surviving ship back to Shanxi, a human colony, and began to occupy the planet. One month later the entire Second Fleet evicted the Turians from the planet. Before they could begin a full-scale war, the rest of the Council intervened and brokered a peace treaty. In 2183, humanity was attacked by the Geth, a race of sentient machines created by the Quarians over 300 years ago, in a successful attempt to utilize a Prothean artifact. Shortly afterward I accidentally triggered the artifact and was haunted by visions of destruction for the next several weeks. Before killing the Spectre responsible for the attack we became aware that the galaxy was on the verge of being annihilated by a superior race of sentient machines. After defeating one two years ago, I dedicated my life to stopping them. After being brought back to life a month ago I continued my campaign and my team and I destroyed the base of the last Protheans who had been enslaved by the Reapers. I believe that about covers it." He finished, glancing at his team for confirmation.

Cutter stared hard at the Commander for a moment, before realizing a way to actually prove – or disprove – the man's story. "I don't suppose you have any proof, Commander Shepard?"

Shepard seemed to glow with pride at the Captain's helpful suggestion, pulling all of the relevant data up on his omni-tool and 'holding' it out to the AI, who quickly took it and analyzed it in seconds.

"It… the information all checks out, Captain. Judging by the information, two separate types of humans originated from the same planet, in the same area, with the same historical milestones right up until their discovery of the data cache on Mars. But this – **that** – is impossible. That would require some strange science fiction reference that nobody would accept as valid, like the parallel universe theory. Yet, all signs point to that conclusion. In fact, now I'm sure. The Commander could be right."

The room was silent once again as the others processed the information they had now received. After a moment everyone in the room began to realize that Shepard's theory may not have been so far-fetched. Captain Cutter was the first to reply. "As crazy as this sounds, I believe you. It may not seem possible, but like Serina said; all evidence points to it. I believe I speak for every member of my crew when I say that we need to make contact with the other humans in this 'alternate universe'. However we will not be able ally ourselves with the xenos you were talking about. I doubt they would allow us to if we wanted to. You may want to keep our existence a secret."

"I was thinking the same thing. You know, the last thing I expected to find on this planet was an army of humans that was capable of destroying a fleet single-handed. I was actually curious about that by the way. One of the Asari mentioned your ship and it seemed impossible. May we see it?" Shepard asked, finally beginning to feel optimistic again.

"I suppose so; it should be right overhead now as a matter of fact. Follow me please." The Captain replied as the ODSTs took up positions around him. Allies or not, they didn't take chances it seemed.

They were led once again down the long corridor and into the open air. Expecting to be blinded by sunlight, the squad from the Normandy reflexively closed their eyes. They were surprised to find the entire valley bathed in darkness. Upon checking his omni-tool Shepard saw that it was only midday. The sun should have been up.

_It should be right overhead now as a matter of fact._

As the group gazed upward slowly, a muffled gasp followed by a loud thump signaled Garrus' loss of consciousness at the sight of the behemoth above them. Shepard couldn't help but smirk at the thought of the 'mighty Turian' fainting at the sight of a ship.


	3. Spirit Of Fire

Spirit of Fire

As Captain Cutter looked upon his troopers and the surprised members of Shepard's team; he allowed himself a fleeting smile before speaking. "Ladies and gentleman, if you would humor me for a moment and look up, you will be able to see the UNSC _**Spirit of Fire**_, a Phoenix-Class Colony Ship that was refitted for military operations. Her main armament, a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, can fire a 600-ton ferric Tungsten slug at 30 kilometers per second. She is also armed with 52 50mm point defense turrets, 22 deck guns, ATAF Missile Turrets, and HAVOK Tactical Nuclear Weapons, Variant V. Her armor consists of Titanium-A plating. I won't go into detail on how many personnel we have or the troops we have at our disposal. Suffice it to say we are not a force to be taken lightly, as the fleet that attacked us quickly came to realize."

One of the black armored troopers shook his head for a moment and replied seriously. "But not nearly quick enough. One of those blue ones managed to get close during a firefight. We cut it down, but not before Jones got ripped in half. But the damn thing didn't even touch him..." He finished quietly.

As Shepard looked at his squad mates, he came to a quick decision.

"Sir, I don't know what exactly is going, but I do know that the Council won't be happy that their fleet was destroyed. I happen to have a comms array on my ship, with a direct line of communication to Humanity's representative in the council, and my former commanding officer. He has a good head on his shoulders and will know what to do about this. As the Alliance's councilor, he can put you and your men under the protection of the Alliance." He finished, pleased with the idea of getting something done after the unplanned meeting.

But the Captain was already shaking his head.

"Commander, I greatly appreciate the offer, but my crew is highly xenophobic after spending a few decades watching countless worlds as they were put to the sword. The only reason your squad was not killed along with the others in the caves was because you were with them, and while I like you, as of yet, I have no real reason to trust you or put my ship and crew under the control of an unknown government. So no, we will remain here. If your 'council' wants revenge, they'll have some of the UNSC's best and brightest to deal with. And they'll quickly find that they don't want to deal with us." He finished, smiling as if at a private joke. "You and your crew are free to go. And don't worry; we have a lot of experience with surviving when the odds are against us."

Shepard frowned for a moment before accepting the Captains outstretched hand and then replied, "If that's what you want, there's nothing I can do to change your mind. Our ship's AI will keep an eye on your comm channel, so if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to call." He finished, sounding a little unsure of how to proceed, before being escorted back to the Normandy, along with the rest of his squad.

* * *

><p>As the 'Commander' and his squad were lead back to their ship, ODST Captain Jonah Murillo turned to Captain Cutter, his frown hidden by his fully polarized visor.<p>

"Sir, with all due respect, surely you don't buy that story they fed us? It all seems a little out there to me." He said, unknowingly repeating Cutter's own thoughts.

Cutter turned to him with a slight smirk and replied, "I'm honestly not sure what to believe; Serina said that their story checks out, so that means that the data is genuine, or very well fabricated. That's why I had Red Team take up positions inside their ship after attaching a tracking beacon, as a bit of… insurance, if you will.. I also had Serina do multiple deep scans of their ship. Not only will we know where they are, we'll have a quick response team ready to strike if something is amiss." He finished, his smirk replaced with a look of absolute seriousness.

Murillo was horrified by the Captain's response and said so. "But sir, if they're discovered, they won't have any backup. And they don't know how to operate that ship."

Cutter simply shook his head before continuing. "The deep scans gave us something we need terribly: Blueprints for the drive core their ship uses. Anders and our engineers are already bringing everything together. Within a month, the _**Spirit of Fire**_ will be fully operational, and we will return to Earth and rejoin the war against the Covenant, Insurrectionists be damned."

Murillo snapped off a crisp salute. "Understood, sir. I apologize for doubting you."

Cutter gave the ODST a slight smile, clapping him on the shoulder as he spoke. "It's understandable Captain. I won't hold the fact that you care about their well-being against you... How long have you been on duty son?"

The trooper seemed to ponder the question, because he was quiet for a moment before replying. "Since that fleet's infantry made ground-fall sir. Why do you ask?"

The old officer seemed to frown for a moment, and then smiled reassuringly. "Head over to chow hall Captain, then consider your men and yourself off-duty and free to do as you will for the next 72 hours. We all need to be at our best and you men running yourselves ragged is not going to accomplish much. Inform Lieutenant Caddoc that he and his men are on duty for the next 24 hours, and then have them follow the roster until you and your men are back on deck."

The ODST seemed to relax, and then snapped off another salute. "Sir, yes, sir. Thank you sir!" He then turned and jogged to the chow hall, squad in tow.

Cutter allowed the small smile to slowly leave his face, then turned and entered the main building of one of the many complexes that dotted the surface of the small valley. He had few more commendations and death notices to write after their most recent violent encounter with a non-human race, and it would be done long before sleep was considered.

* * *

><p>Unknown to the Captain, aboard the <em>Normandy<em>, now many light years away from the small planet, the aforementioned Spartan Team had settled into an obviously abandoned room on the engineering deck. Said room had once been the temporary quarters of the most successful bounty hunter in the Terminus Systems and, after his departure, had been cleaned out and abandoned by the crew of the Normandy. No one ever entered the room and if anyone did now they would find the room empty, just as it should be, thanks in large part to salvaged Covenant stealth technology installed into the Spartan's armor. They would remain an invisible and deadly force, ready to strike once they had gathered all the necessary information to send back to Cutter. Then the Spartans would do exactly what they did best. Eliminate all designated hostiles and salvage whatever was needed.

"It's about time we had a little fun, am I right Jerome? Alice?" Douglas asked over the team's private comm channel.

His answer came in the form of two green lights flashing once on his HUD. His smile widened.


End file.
